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Get Found Online: "Look, Ma! I’m on the Internet!"

Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media, shares 4 tips for making sure your business gets found on the internet.

By Rieva Lesonsky

In the beginning, search engine optimization (SEO) was a specialized skill and you had to hire a professional to drive traffic to your website.

Today, while SEO Is still somewhat of an art form, there are tons of tools and tips you can use to undertake the project all by yourself—with excellent results. Here are some things to keep in mind about SEO:

1. Be master of your domain.

If you’re contemplating what domain name to choose for your website, think SEO when making the choice. If your domain name is just based on your company name, it may get lost in the shuffle. Use keywords related to your business that people are actually searching for and be as descriptive as possible.

2. Know your keywords and use them.

There are tons of apps and programs out there to help you choose the right keywords to use in your Web content. An easy place to start is Google Adwords. Search for keywords pertaining to your business and make sure the words are on your home page, in your description and internally in your blog creator.

3. Go local.

The more often your business appears on the Web, the better, right? Sign up for as many local search directories as you can. You’ll attract more mobile customers and at the same time increase your SEO. Here are a few important directories to get listed in:

4. Look, listen and learn.

Do your research and find out what other people are doing right. Talk to other business owners and find out what they did to increase SEO. Visit sites like Compete.com to find out the leading sites in your industry and compare yours. Then contact a SCORE mentor with this expertise to get specific advice for your business on how to move your website higher up the search engine ranks.

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit her website at SmallBizDaily.com to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for Rieva’s free TrendCast reports.